2021 Halloween Howl
- October 29-30, 2021
- Albuquerque, N.M.
- Results
Courtesy: New Mexico State Athletics
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – For the first time in a decade, NM State emerged as the victor in the Battle of I-25.
A dominating performance by the Aggies on the final day of a two-day dual meet between NM State and New Mexico at the Armond H. Seidler Natatorium yielded a 197-156 dual meet victory for NM State.
The Aggies captured first-place finishes in six swimming events to run away with their first dual meet victory over the Lobos since 2011.
DIVING
• Another runner-up performance by Italia Aranzabel – this time on the three-meter diving platform – couldn’t counter a 13-point performance by a pair of New Mexico divers. Aranzabal’s score of 258.90 yielded four points for the visitors, but the Lobos’ 13 points put them on top 93-91 heading into the swimming events.
SWIMMING
• Whatever momentum the Lobos had gathered up as a result of their performance on the diving platform was quickly countered with a strong showing by the Aggies’ 200-yard medley relay squad.
• Maude Boily-Dufour, Neza Kocijan, Airam Oliva-Aun and Skylar Well put the pedal down late and out-touched the Lobos’ runner-up squad. The Aggies’ foursome was clocked in a time of 1:46.23 – edging out New Mexico’s time of 1:46.70.
• The Lobos posted the top three finishes in the 1,000-yard freestyle relay to retake the lead, but NM State quickly recovered after the meet’s longest event.
• Aimee Burton won the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 24.14 while Oliva-Aun (24.63) and Natalia Villa (24.76) finished fourth and fifth respectively to give the Aggies more points.
• NM State took control for the rest of the way in the 100-yard backstroke by sweeping the podium. Boily-Dufour’s top time of 58.35 was followed up by Lindsay Puhalski’s runner-up finish in 59.08. Kiersten Valdez (59.34) placed third, giving NM State 15 of a possible 18 points in the event.
• Another podium sweep in the 200-yard breaststroke padded NM State’s lead. Jordan Andrusak (2:26.18) took the top spot there while Welle (2:28.87) and Gracie Pino (2:31.44) finished second and third respectively.
• Even though the Lobos won the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard freestyle, NM State picked up points in each event by second, third and fourth-place finishes in each one.
• Puhalski continued her strong day by winning the 400-yard IM in a time of 4:35.12. Andrusak also claimed a podium finish in that event, finishing third in a time of 4:44.07.
• NM State capped off its dominant victory with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Burton, Hemburrow, Kocijan and Oliva-Aun were clocked in a time of 3:30.15 – nearly four seconds faster than the Lobos’ runner-up foursome.
QUOTABLE | HEAD COACH RICK PRATT
“Our team had a lot of grit this weekend and I’m very proud of the efforts and energy our team brought to the deck today. We fought for every point and our seniors really lead the way to bring home the win. Our relay legs swam with great confidence and did not let up at the finish of both sessions. Overall we’re in a great place with all the training we’re putting in and this should give us great confidence moving forward.”
COMING UP NEXT
• NM State continues its stretch of three-consecutive dual meets away from Las Cruces by heading to the Lone Star State. The Aggies are bound for Texas where they’ll tangle with SMU in Dallas at 5:00 p.m. Friday evening. Saturday at noon, NM State and North Texas are set to meet up in Denton.
Courtesy: New Mexico Athletics
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico Lobos fell to the New Mexico State University Aggies in the Halloween Howl on Saturday. Heading into Saturday, the Lobos trailed by a score of 87-80 and they could not claw back and lost 197-156. The final nine swimming events and the three-meter diving competition were completed on Saturday in Albuquerque to wrap up the two-day meet.
The first events of the day were the preliminary rounds of the three-meter diving competition. After a short break, the swimming got underway. NMSU’s ‘A’ relay barely out-touched UNM’s ‘A’ relay in the 200-medley relay to kick off the races. The Aggies’ victory in the 200-medley relay was their first of six first-place finishes on the day, including the 50-yard freestyle, 100 yard backstroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 400-yard IM, and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
The Lobos won three events on Saturday and again did well in the diving competition. New Mexico’s Camila Batista, Paige Lyons, and Josie Carpenter placed first, second, and third respectively in the 1000-yard freestyle, again displaying the program’s dominance in distance events. Batista handily won the event by nearly seven full seconds and recorded her second individual top-two finish in the meet (with the 500-yard freestyle on Friday). UNM’s Marina Olmstead won the 100-yard butterfly race by less than a second in the sixth event of the day. She was barely able to hold off NMSU’s Aimee Burton to finish in first. The Lobos’ Olivia Bishop, hero of Friday’s 200-yard freestyle relay, dramatically touched-out the Aggies’ Neza Kocijan in the 200 yard-freestyle. This was her second thrilling finish of the meet and she came out on top in both of them.
The finals for the three-meter diving competition occurred on Saturday immediately following the 100-yard backstroke event. In the competition, the Lobos again came away with a victory, this time courtesy of Jocelyn Gallais. She was able to hold off the Aggies’ Italia Aranzabal by less than three points. Daphne Scheck again placed well in diving this meet, placing third in the three-meter after coming off a win in the one-meter competition.
If this meet is any indication, the Lobos should fare well this season in distance events and in diving competitions when facing other NCAA Division 1 foes. UNM faces their next opponent next weekend, November 5-6, in Flagstaff, Arizona, versus Northern Arizona University.
